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Locked down but not out in Italy

Singing from the balconies! One nice thing about this crisis ... solidarity! “Guess you’re not living like a tourist anymore,” was the funny, truthful and somewhat gut-wrenching message of a friend the day the lockdown in Italy began. Today is day 6. My beloved Italia has been hit hard with the COVID19 epidemic. With the second largest elderly population in the world, the epidemic has meant a disproportionate amount of deaths in the country. So though I haven’t been worried about contracting it myself, this isn’t about me or someone like me who, if contracted it would probably have a sucky couple of weeks and then recover. It is about if someone like me contracted it and then spread it to a person with a complicated health history or an elderly person with a weakened immune system. Eerily orderly: Lines for the grocery store, each person one meter apart In a country with no concept (and no physical room really) for personal space, and in a city with reproachable hygie...
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It's hot. Definitely. No denying that. It is even record-breaking.

However, I like to keep things in perspective, and some of you may have noticed that much of the news in our country is a bit alarmist when it comes to... well, pretty much anything.

Example 1: "Triple Digit Misery" (p.s. doesn't the picture reflect that well?)



Example 2: "Don't Roast your dog"



Example 3: "Sizzling Heat Wave tightens grip"



Example 4: "NYC broils"



This is why I take things with a grain of salt. In the spirit of keeping things in perspective, I decided to research some of the hottest countries in the world in July. Therefore, I decided to compare even DC's record heat today to Kuwait's.



Granted DC is at 23% humidity and Kuwait is only at 7%... However, it is 11pm at night there and 4pm during the day here, and they still beat us by a good 6 degrees.

In fact, if you'll notice, tomorrow it is going to be 122 degrees in Kuwait. How would Fox news describe that? "Hell has reached the earth!", "Doomsday has descended upon us!", "Sell all your goods and flee!"

I am not trying to downplay the dangers of heat... I am still a strong proponent of staying hydrated, avoiding long, outdoor runs and generally doing anything that commonsense would advise against...

However, the response in the news is a little bewildering to me. People live in this kind of weather, certainly for more than 3 days in a row, and still manage to survive.

However, our news describes the situation as: "Misery," "Roasting," "Tightening its grip" and "broiling.

From the sounds of our headlines, we might not make it through.
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